Mile of Music's economic impact an unwritten tune

Inaugural year of festival to bring foot traffic, but just how much is unknown

Aug. 8, 2013

Patrons Tia Lawrence, left, Jessica Vanden Heuvel, center, and Chuck Borland enjoy Happy Hour at Fox River House on May 10 in Appleton. Fox River House was one of the first Appleton businesses to sign on as a venue for the Mile of Music festival. / Wm. Glasheen/Post-Crescent Media

Written by

Maureen Wallenfang

Post-Crescent Media

Power stays on for Mile of Music

The storms that blew through the Fox Cities early Wednesday morning and caused power outages in much of Appleton spared downtown. That’s good news for Mile of Music, the new music festival that’s bringing in more than 100 bands from Thursday through Sunday. “The first thing I thought of when the storm hit was, ‘Thankfully, it’s tonight and not Friday night,” Mile of Music co-founder Dave Willems said Wednesday on Newsmakers, Post-Crescent media’s online interview show. “For the most part, I think the downtown stretch was unscathed.” The event will be held at bars, restaurants and coffee shops on and around College Avenue, as well as several sites at Lawrence University.

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APPLETON — Mile of Music could turn out to be a huge festival, with thousands of people coming downtown to listen to more than 100 musicians or groups.

But whether or not it turns out to be sweet music for the local economy is a song waiting to be written.

Nevertheless, business owners and managers are eager to help the festival put down roots, and are boosting their staffing and booze orders for the weekend — just in case.

“We are anticipating a large uptick in business. At least we’re hoping so,” said Cleo’s manager Kim Hamrick. She bumped up bar staffing Thursday, Friday and all day Saturday, and increased her liquor order by one-third.

Hotels are among the biggest festival boosters even though their operators have yet to figure out if many festival goers will stay overnight. Guests book rooms through many Internet sites, so managers don’t know if traffic they’re seeing is coming for Mile of Music, the Packers game, weddings or even a massive annual button collectors’ convention.

“We’ve got an NFL team here through Friday afternoon,” said Jay Schumerth, Radisson Paper Valley Hotel general manager, who has all hands on deck. “We’ll be cleaning rooms quickly at 4 p.m. on Friday for check-in for Mile of Music. Saturday we’re expecting to fill up. We still have rooms available, but we’ll get some walk-up traffic or last-minute people saying, ‘Hey, let’s stay overnight.’”

Besides the NFL and musicians, the hotel has four weddings, 400 incoming National Button Society conventioneers and displaced guests from the storm-ravaged Hilton Garden Inn.

While Mile of Music might yield the smallest number of booked rooms in that mix, it’s still important to the hotel, Schumerth said. “We’re excited about the festival. We’re trying to be as good of a citizen as we can be,” he said. “In the long-term, this could be a major annual event for the Fox Cities.”

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More than a dozen hotels committed to giving complimentary rooms to musicians and created special rates for festival-goers. The Paper Valley, for example, knocked an average of another $20 off, making rates even lower than typical Internet deal sites. Schumerth said they also donated money, loaned furniture and provided venue space for several concerts. They wheeled a grand piano into the lobby just in case musicians walking past wanted to sit down and play an impromptu tune.

Other hotel managers throughout the Fox Cities also are patient, knowing the festival might not make registers ring.

“Not this year,” said Chuck Gifford, general manager of the Comfort Suites in Grand Chute.

That didn’t change his enthusiasm for the festival. He provided complimentary rooms for three bands and established a free shuttle service downtown during the event. So far, no one has made a shuttle reservation and the hotel is not sold out.

“I think the festival is going to grow,” he said. “We’re excited about it and who’s involved with it. We wanted to be involved.”

For hotels with discounted Mile of Music room rates or the ones that helped the festival with complimentary rooms for musicians, see mileofmusic.com, “about” pulldown menu and “lodging, dining and shopping” tab.

On the same mileofmusic.com “about” tab, see shops that have special discounts for festival participants. Heid Music, Globally Sound Fair Trade, Eco Candle and Just Act Natural have 10 to 20 percent discounts, for example. Pubs and bars have special deals on shots, bombs, pints and taps.

Beyond the increased level of alcohol and coffee consumption, the festival could be good for all businesses if it gets noticed beyond our borders.

“We’re hoping it will be something that puts us on the map. It has the potential to draw visitors because of its unique nature,” said Pam Seidl, executive director of the Fox Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau.

“It’s not a standard community festival. Community events do not attract overnight visitors,” she said. “Octoberfest, for example, has an amazing impact, but it’s like homecoming. People who come for Octoberfest stay with mom and dad or their friends.”

Seidl said Mile of Music has the potential to go beyond that “because of the national level of the acts, because of the type of festival, the type of artists who have a niche following and because it’s multiple days,” said Seidl. “All of those together, it’s a nice opportunity to pull in overnight guests.”

Day visitors spend an average of $52 per day. That figure jumps to $180 per day when visitors stay overnight, according to Wisconsin Department of Tourism. That includes lodging, restaurants, gas and entertainment expenditures.

Seidl said the visitors bureau hopes to get data on Mile of Music attendance after the festival wraps Sunday.